Friday, February 20, 2015

Back when I was guest designing for Chi Chi Memories, I was quite possibly the worst guest designer ever. You see, it's not that I didn't love the images, or appreciate the opportunity, but a lot happened in my life during the time that I was designing for them, and stamping became less of a priority. I made cards for them, several of them, and never even blogged them. So for that, I truly apologize to the team at Chi Chi Memories, and to all of their fans and designers. I spoke a bit about being sick, and having headaches, but I never really went into detail about that....well, here goes.

Last year in March, I moved to Louisville for work, and what had always been severe migraines that were slowly becoming completely resistant to medicine, became even worse. I finally broke down and went to a urgent care center, who immediately referred me to a Neurologist. During the testing they did to find out what might be causing my migraines, they stumbled upon something completely unexpected. In fact, when my doctor told me she was sending me for an MRI, she said "we don't usually find anything, but we like to look just in case." Well, the results shocked both her, and myself, to the core. The results were even more shocking because I didn't receive them until a month after my MRI....which had made me, by then, think that nothing serious could be wrong, or they would have called me by now. I mean, after all my blood work went through, they immediately had me on iron for my anemia(new problem), vitamin D for my severe deficiency(pasty white chick problems), and B12 for my severe lack of it(and energy, dios mio)... so in my mind, it stood to reason that they would have called me by now. When they finally did call me, my doctor asked if I was alone, which I was, and then asked me to sit down because she had some news to tell me. She started by apologizing, and I could hear the shakiness in her voice, so I know it was truly heartfelt, and not news she wanted or even expected to have to deliver. Meghan started by explaining that she did NOT want to tell me this over the phone, but there were several appointments that she needed to schedule, and she didn't want to start scheduling them and freak me out by making me wait to tell me. That's when she finally broke the news to me, that my MRI showed that I have Multiple Sclerosis.

MS......and my mind and body went completely numb.

I had heard of MS, and knew it was a thing, but I honestly had NO clue what it meant, all I knew was I was scared, and I didn't know what to do or think. She told me what our immediate plan of attack was going to be: an intial consult with her to do some more blood tests, neuro testing, vision screening, two more MRI's of my spine and orbits, and 5 days of high dose steroid treatments.

She honestly could have told me that we were going to go to Camelot on horseback and paint rainbows on kittens, and I would have agreed with her and told her I'd be there...because honestly, I stopped listening at some point. When I finally came to my senses, after we were off the phone, I immediately called my mom, who is a nurse, and my dad, and we all cried. My mom did her best to explain to me what MS was, and what was going to happen to me....but honestly, nothing can truly prepare you for something like this. My Dad started a prayer chain with his family, and told me that everything was going to be fine, because that's what good Daddys do. Both of my parents dropped everything to rush to be with that week, and I will forever be greatful for that.

I'm not going to lie, some days it is tough. Flare ups are nothing to joke about, and the headaches haven't gotten any better, either. I have to give myself shots 3 times a week, and take so much medication I have to have a pill box to keep it all straight. Some days it's all I can do to drag myself out of bed and just keep going, but I have an amazing support system, and a hobby I love, so it keeps me going. I will say this though: if you can avoid having to go on IV steriod treatments for 5 days straight for the rest of your life, do that....good gried, that was the worst thing ever. Looking back now, and knowing what the symptoms for MS are, which are very common, easy to overlook things, I do see now that things that I would attribute to the migraines were actually the MS.

I'm not telling you this story for pity, or for attention, but to let you know why things are the way they are around here. I have lost a ton of followers, and I know that, and for a blog that used to get over 200 views a day, to get barely 40, it truly makes me sad....so for those of you that stuck around, thankyou for your support, it means the world to me.

Now, after all that depressing stuff, back to the good stuff!!

Here is a card I made using the super cute and fun Good Day digi from Chi Chi memories. I paired it with Lemon Drop, Sour Apple, and Bubblegum cardstock from MFT...as well as Smooth White. My ribbon is Lemon Drop Grosgrain, and I also used Berrylicious buttons from MFT. To finish, I used brads from Michaels.

Well, that is it for me for now!! Hope you have an amazing day, and my story didn't make you too sad!! See you tomorrow with more goodies!!